


What's Yours Is Mine

by sweetpea73



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Office, Cheese, M/M, Oral Sex, Romance, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2019-02-10 05:43:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12905316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetpea73/pseuds/sweetpea73
Summary: Jongdae and The Case of the Missing Sweatshirt





	What's Yours Is Mine

**Author's Note:**

> Old, 2016  
> cross posted from AFF, LJ

It felt like clockwork again. Jongdae’s body was thrown into motion one step at a time. It was a miracle he didn’t tumble down the stairs. His eyes were barely open as he descended down the stairs, making sure that he didn’t bump into the stairwell. His laundry basket was feeling unusually heavy in his hands, but maybe it was just his drowsiness.

Jongdae thought he would be used to waking at the ass crack of dawn every day to do laundry, but it never got easier. Unless he wanted to cut some hours at work, he would have to live with doing laundry at 4 am at least once every two weeks. Any other time was spent at work or the other tenants in the building used the ever convenient 6 washers and dryers.

The basement held the white machines, 2 already taken by the elderly uncle from the first floor. Jongdae gave him a weak smile and a scratchy morning greeting as he dumped his whites in one washer and the darks in the other. A splash of fresh detergent in each, a green laundry basket in the corner, and Jongdae was gone back up.

The only thing that really sucked about his building was the elevator. It was slower than walking down the stairs, and being on the third floor was a pain in the ass to move. But Jongdae enjoys the walks, especially when his legs look a lot less scrawny. 

His morning consists of the basic routine of a heavy leg day. Down the stairs: washer, up the stairs: shower, down the stairs: dryer, up the stairs: breakfast, down the stairs: pick up laundry, up the stairs: dress, down the stairs: a rush to catch the subway. His first days in the new building led to shaky walks down the subway platform.

Cleansed and two fried eggs down, his laundry fresh and hot from the dryer, he felt a lot more refreshed. He shimmied himself into warm skinny jeans and roughly shoved his hand through his hair before grabbing his black hoodie and keys. His morning routine finally was kicking off again.

He only took the Yellow Line for two stops until he finally got a block away from work. He was in a building that was part of identical grey sets. The interior looks completely different from the other boring offices; computer desks pushed together in an open layout. Drawing boards filled with concept art were tacked onto cork, and an open mat with cameras surrounding it adorned the office space next door. Working for a video production company was an interesting line of work.

Jongdae sat in his desk chair, huffing as he bounced and booted up his work computer. His white cat mug sat at the corner of his mousepad, the large, menacing kitten eyes glaring at him because _someone forgot to clean out the stale black liquid of death inside._

“Jesus,” Kyungsoo sighed as he slipped off his backpack and settled his thermos on his desk. “Clean up after yourself. It smells like ass.”

“Thanks mom,” Jongdae rolled his eyes as he set the mug further away from Kyungsoo’s nostrils. From the glare, Jongdae took the hint and immediately threw it in the sink in the kitchenette.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae were usually the first ones in the animation department to settle in the building. They’ve been working together on a project. The company decided to make a 3D anime to compete with other shows. They also wanted to offset all of their live action work. The company had the plan to play more in their animation department for years, and Jongdae was just grateful that he still had a job for at least the next year and until Volume 1 was finished.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae had been working on conversation pieces between multiple characters, lining up the camera for the over the shoulder shots. It’s been about four months since the actual production had been steady. Every day it seemed like they did the same thing: sit at their desks, practice facial expressions in the mirror, and sometimes, if they are extremely lucky, they’ll do motion capture. But that was usually Chanyeol’s job.

“Good morning!” the ear piercing screech made Jongdae want to cry. “Look at my two favorite animators so hard at work!”

Jongdae could see Kyungsoo slowly taking off his headphones, getting ready to punish a more than chipper Chanyeol.

“Oh God, wait! My precious kneecaps!” Chanyeol screeched, tumbling his lanky body behind Jongdae’s chair. Jongdae could only snicker as Kyungsoo glared through his body directly toward Chanyeol’s crumpled body.

“What’s up, Yeol? _Confessions of My Teenage Daughter Season II_ came out, right? The pilot episode was-“

Before Jongdae could utter another breath, Chanyeol death gripped onto his biceps and a waterfall of harsh tones blubbered out, “An absolute train wreck! The production value really dropped down since Susie decided to become a popstar. Like, girl, can’t you see that you were the ultimate Pop Diva’s daughter? Don’t try to outshine the queen!”

Jongdae knew that if Kyungsoo was forced to listen to any of that, he’d probably try to choke Chanyeol out. Jongdae has learned to sit through _Confessions of My Teenage Daughter_ because Chanyeol would build up his adoration and it would seep into the writing. One time, last season, Jongdae ended up animating the scene by scene drama between Tiffany and her daughter Violet about giving up dance lessons. Kyungsoo had to mocap the scene where June was excitedly texting her boyfriend about prom, per request of Chanyeol. By the end of that day, Chanyeol had a sprained ankle and had two purple fist bruises on his lower back.

Chanyeol snorted attractively, and took a sip of his wired coffee, “But, anyway! That’s not why I’m here. Sehun is out sick.”

“ _Again?_ Are you sure it’s sick _sick_ or sick, as in, _I’m on holiday with my model girlfriend_.”

“I’m pretty sure his exact words were _‘I’m supporting my girlfriend through a family emergency’_.”

“ _Oh no_! Did Valentino stub his toe?” Jongdae grumbled, resting his face against his desk in defeat. 

“So, we need to hurry up production a week,” The head writer squeaked out. Jongdae turned his head to glare at Chanyeol. Jongdae had been working on the conversation pieces so that he would be crunching down next week, and he could _maybe_ get one day off. But if production was being pushed ahead again, just because a stuck up twerp wouldn’t show up for lines, and it got rid of his _me time_ , he was not going to have it.

But Jongdae kind of sucked at standing up for himself and putting any foot down, so he whined. Kyungsoo was so much better at being the hard ass, but he was currently destroying his ear drums to block out Chanyeol.

“Can’t we just get someone else to do Sehun’s lines?” Jongdae cried. “I mean, all he does is just speak in a monotone, disinterested voice. How hard is that to find?”

On cue, Chanyeol’s eyes sparkled, his eyes glazing over so he wasn’t looking directly at Jongdae. Almost as if he was looking through him over to…

Jongdae suddenly grinned, a sing song coming to his lips, “Hey, Kyungsoo…”

-

Long days made Jongdae wish he had someone to drink his beer with. 

Other than his coworkers, he doesn’t really have any friends. And after long days at work, he’s not sure if he wants to see Kyungsoo’s sour puss face or have Chanyeol spoil _Game of Full Frontal Nudity_. Now that he was thinking about it, he’s not really sure if he wants them in his apartment. They would tear him apart.

His apartment consisted of his microwave, and everything his mom dropped off when he moved out. She went a little overboard with homey decorations, ones that were obviously picked up by a middle aged woman. If it were Jongdae’s way, and he was more productive, he would take down the ceramic birds and welcome doilies, and plant his beer bottle graveyard across the ledge.

Jongdae huffed when he came home, finding his laundry all rumpled in the green bin. He hated folding his laundry, but he could hear his mom internally cursing him whether he put on his wrinkled tee. Thus, he performed the daunting ritual, folding the less wrinkled and painfully ironing out the wrinkles of the worse off ones. The iron was his 23rd birthday present from his mom. He just wanted underwear and socks.

Speaking of socks, Jongdae threw a lone one on the ground in frustration. One of his favorite socks, the one that had Piglet on it, was now alone in the world. Its brethren had fallen, and now it was abandoned. Jongdae swore there was a curse on him.

Food was boxed Chinese food from the rundown brick building a block down from him. After such another long day of animating and trying his best to get rid of his headache, he didn’t feel up to cooking. Plus, it was satisfying and greasy. He was pretty sure his body was used to being bloated from the chow mein. 

“Tomorrow will be better,” Jongdae reassures himself as the staleness of the fried noodles hits his the back of his tongue. His eyes flutter closed after a long day of work, hoping for a better day.

-

Jongdae was thrown back into routine. His hand was hovering the mouse like he’s done it a million times before. Poses were thrown in naturally for the animated characters. The poppy colors on the outfits were names that stuck in his brain, like cool cucumber and rad red. 

Kyungsoo, his animator in crime, had a side job now. _Voice actor_ , Jongdae cringed. He was working practically double now that Kyungsoo had replaced Sehun’s role. Kyungsoo was in the recording booth more than he was insulting Jongdae, and Jongdae needed his daily quota of at least 10 jabs at him. The most Jongdae would see Kyungsoo was when he sauntered over to the kitchenette to grab some water and they would have a minimal conversation.

Kyungsoo’s eyes flicked to Jongdae’s feet as he walked over, “You’re shoes are untied.”  
Jongdae felt a trip in his step, but was quick to recovery, balancing himself against the doorframe. 

“Pssh, I knew that,” Jongdae said coolly. Kyungsoo just lifted an eyebrow and left a silence in the air.

Jongdae hated to admit it, but ever since Kyungsoo had betrayed him to _voice acting_ (cue the shiver), Jongdae has felt even more like an underling. Kyungsoo and Jongdae were on the same level of nerdiness when they were in animation together. They had a comfortable silence between each other and wouldn’t make fun of each other when they had to sway their hips like the Princesses. Now, Kyungsoo had a different air to him, and Jongdae regressed to his socially awkward high school days.

“So, uh, how was recording today? Derik the Destroyer killing your vocal chords?” 

“Not really,” Kyungsoo said monotonously, sipping water only to smack his lips together. Jongdae felt like he was going to die in the awkward silence. God, why was he such a buzzkill?

But Kyungsoo broke into a smirk, and Jongdae’s arm was hit with a familiar smack, “Hey, you good? Heard that you’ve been pretty much on overtime for the past month. Sorry, that’s got to suck.”

Jongdae shrugged, “It’s not _ideal_ , but at least I’ll have extra spending money for booze that you’re not going to drink.”

“Yeah, I guess I deserve that.”

“I blame this on Sehun,” Jongdae cursed. “If he wasn’t such a stuck up VA, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Well, I say that you can always see a curse as a blessing in disguise,” Kyungsoo hummed, his voice a little more timid. “You’ve got more money for beer now, thanks to Sehun.”

Kyungsoo was acting strange, Jongdae noted his sudden demure stance. But before Jongdae could comment, Kyungsoo patted him on the back and slid into the court, “Alright, back to work! Princess Miyazaki can’t sashay all by herself.”

-

Jongdae was running late.

One of the dryers was broken, and all of his clothes were sopping wet in his basket. All the other dryers were occupied, spinning like they were laughing at him. Jongdae was mid-way into a major panic attack because his favorite black hoodie was on the bottom of his green basket and he was running his water bill through the roof and work was in less than hour. 

Jongdae had to wait another half hour for the older tenant to get his clothes out of the dryer if he had any chance of his clothes being dry. Jongdae accepted his defeat, leaving the basket in the laundry facility until the dryers opened. 

Jongdae hated being that asshole, and you know the one. The person that leaves his laundry in the dryer while others wait. He’s a dick, he knows that, and the yellow sticky note on the dryer he finally got didn’t help. He tried being pleasant, but that doesn’t come out well through text. 

_If this is done, throw it in the green basket. You don’t have to fold it. Sorry for the inconvenience._

In the end, Jongdae didn’t get to wear his hoodie to work, and he definitely noticed the drafts.

-

He threw down his bag in his apartment, so done with the stressful day. He was relieved that his green basket was filled with his laundry instead of shreds of clothing or a state of being empty. Instead, there was a saint laundry patron that tossed his clean laundry in his basket. 

Jongdae began sorting through his laundry and noticed that, _fuck_ , his other pink sock is missing. A second time around, his black hoodie is nowhere to be found. Jongdae was rummaging through his folded laundry three times, ran around his room, under his bed, in the shower before he tumbled onto his bed and shouted into the sheets. His hoodie was lost. He deserved it for being a piece of shit tenant. 

Jongdae quickly scrambled for his phone, dialing furiously as his heart pounded. His hoodie was a novelty. He’s had it since high school, and kept it in mint condition. It has been through his trials of life, including the grass incident.

“Hello?” cut in the monotone voice.

“Ah, Kyungsoo – please tell me you’re still at the office?” He felt so clammy, it was gross. It was just a sweatshirt, not a child.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kyungsoo yawned. Must have been there late for mocap.

“Is my sweatshirt near my desk?”

Kyungsoo groaned, “No.”

Jongdae was a nervous wreck, “Kitchen? Bathroom? Sound booth.”

“Jongdae, you’ve never even gone in the sound booth.”

“You’re wrong! I went in their last week. Chanyeol says I do a great impression of a dinosaur. He’s going to work it into a short film.”

“Whatever,” There was rummaging on the other end of the line, a squeak of shoes, and opening of doors. But still, just a sigh. “It’s not here.”

“Fuuuuuuck,” Jongdae drew out, whining as his head hit the sheets again. His heart was racing, he could practically feel it in his ear drums. “Well, thanks anyway. Late night tonight?”

“Uh,” Kyungsoo sounded a lot less tired. Probably from getting up. “Yeah. Well, Chanyeol told me some of the audio got corrupted, so we decided to wrap some content up.”

“Did you -,” Jongdae scoffed. “Did you say _Chanyeol_ and not _giant loud mouth, lanky pants_?”

“I didn’t –“

“Jeez, when did you two become buddies? Frankly, I’m a little hurt to hear that you don’t have the disgust in your tone when you speak about him.”

Jongdae could feel Kyungsoo’s eye roll.

“I have to work with him constantly, so _giant loud mouth, lanky pants_ is a bit of a mouthful, okay?” Jongdae could feel a faint smile. Kyungsoo sounded like he was speaking to a five-year old, which Jongdae was eternally, so it helped. “I have to go – a couple more lines and I’ll be out.”

“Great. Can’t wait to see your sunshine face in the morning.”

-

The mystery of the lost black hoodie wasn’t solved yet, but Jongdae still believed it was an open case. Currently, it wasn’t one he was pursuing due to the massive shipment of bullshit work he had on his hands. He had gone through a section of Princess Miyazaki running off to the village to seek the elder witch. Her dress was a bitch and the polygons kept on flowing out of sync of the running. He had just been working on it the day before and didn’t want to have to do motion capture. 

Soon, he was strapped into the black mocap suit, with white ball pinpoints to highlight the joints. Jongdae loved fucking around in the suit, but right now he was on strict deadlines. It was just easier to go in and out of the motions, and way easier to export.

A junior animator made sure to adjust the pinpoints to get the accurate placement and ran back to the capturing screen. Jongdae knew he still had to wait for the choreographer and writing staff, but time was money. Time was also getting out of work early and watching _The New Boys._

Jongdae could hear Chanyeol’s boisterous laughter down the hallway before he caught sight of the head writer with the uncomfortable choreographer in tow. Chanyeol was the type of guy that wanted to be everyone’s friend. What he hasn’t realized yet is that he’s a loud mouth, and is too touchy. He’s also awkward as all hell. Jongdae isn’t bothered by the giant; he just enjoys Chanyeol’s enthusiasm. 

Jongin, the choreographer, has been the brunt of Chanyeol’s passionate rambles and pokes. Jongin is a young kid, great at motion capture and choreographing fights, but he’s a quiet guy. Jongdae almost feels bad when Chanyeol is towering the choreographer. Jongin is cuddled into a faux headlock and his smile is wavering. 

“Hey Chanyeol,” Jongdae called out. “You’re going to choke the kid!”

Chanyeol, instead, wrapped his arms loosely around Jongdae in a fake tackle. He laughed directly into his ear, “Covered in white balls is a look good for you.”

“Okay, Jongdae. I’ve got the choreography for you,” Jongin pulled up his tablet with notes on it. “We’ll need some running and then I’ll show you the other moves.”

Jongdae sighed, knowing that he was in for a lot more exercise than he was signing up for. Whenever Chanyeol was around, he loved to make Jongdae do a lot more sprints than he could do. Jongdae couldn’t object, but he was low enough to kick Chanyeol into submission.

Jongdae jogged, sprinted, even ducked away from “trees” and bushes. He did it with only some poise, knowing that the Princess was in a panic and not really caring about her femininity. Chanyeol was quiet the entire time, Jongdae noticed, and was thankful. But after minutes of forced running, Jongdae eased into a gentle stop. 

Jongin was pleasantly nodding, making sure the junior animator had gotten everything recorded correctly. Chanyeol, however, looked constipated in thought.

“Okay, it’s good, but –“ 

_There was always a but._

“You need to use your hips more,” Chanyeol commented. He positioned Jongdae into one of the major last poses, the scene where the Princess enters the hut. “It goes from black. The camera is a shot from behind, so your walks need to be labored. The Princess is putting up a front, something poised and proper, to intimidate the witch.”

Jongdae huffed, “I’ve got like _the smallest_ hips in the office. I don’t even think I could manage to sway hips like that.”

“Then we have a problem,” Chanyeol’s tone changed to a more serious demeanor. “Just get it done by the end of the month and we’ll be fine.”

Chanyeol turned on his heel down the corridor to some offices and slammed a door behind him. Jongdae scoffed and turned to Jongin, “What’s up his ass?”

“I don’t want to know.”

-

This was it, Jongdae hummed to himself, as he staked out the laundry facility in hopes of catching the laundry thief. None of the other patrons he awkwardly passed by had any items missing, save for a few socks. Jongdae had checked the lost and found mountain of forgotten clothes, but none of them matched his missing items. He felt it was his right to seek out the criminal, and the only way he knew how was to stake out the laundry. 

Granted, it looked a little weird. He sat in a flimsy metal chair, propped his laptop against the folding table, and huddled himself in a blanket. It was uncomfortable, but he sat through it.

He wasn’t sure how long he spent down there, but it felt like ten minutes before he felt a jab into his shoulder. His head knocked up, his eyes flashed open, and he met a stranger’s eyes. Really, really beautiful eyes.

“Hey,” The stranger’s voice was soft, probably because Jongdae just woke up from a well needed nap. “Do you think I can use the table to fold?”

Jongdae blinked the grogginess out of his eyes before he flicked toward the table and noticed that his supplies had spread across the expanse of the table. He scrambled to recollect the items, an embarrassed flush across his face, “Uh, yeah. Sorry about that.”

The stranger hummed lightly, “No worries.”

Jongdae rubbed his eyes, white spots flickering as he pinpoints pressure to waken them. The stranger piled his laundry onto the table, careful folding and setting aside the shirts. Jongdae was too tired to move, the nap settling into his body was bad. 

“I’m Baekhyun, by the way. I live on the 5th floor,” the other laundry patron threw a smile and a hand towards Jongdae. Jongdae took it graciously with a smile.

With Baekhyun’s body facing towards Jongdae, he could see the delightful graphics of the shirt, and – _wait, is that Bushido: Kiko_??? Jongdae’s ultimate guilty pleasure anime that he definitely does not have all the box sets on DVD. Jongdae, brain dead at this point, unconsciously whispered, “Baekhyun.”

“Uh, and you are?” Baekhyun’s bright voice asked, and Jongdae realized that he had been continuing the shaking movements of the handshake, and never let go. 

Jongdae laughed at himself, the same way Chanyeol laughs at himself when no one laughs at his jokes, and made a face, “Oh, I’m Jongdae. Sorry, I just think your shirt is cool.”

Not to mention that he also has the _same exact shirt_. They could be _twinsies._

Baekhyun looked down at his shirt, spreading it out for him to read. With a nice, bright smile, he perked up, “Oh yeah! Kiko is so kick ass, even if he’s the representative of his class. You watch?”

“Yeah! It’s _so_ good,” Jongdae realized half way through that he could scare off a potential new friend. He can’t ruin it. _Just play it cool._

Jongdae adjusted himself so that he leaned into the wall, stretching himself. He nodded his head coolly, “What season are you on?”

Baekhyun was halfway through folding some clothes, but he paused to force a cute little smile, “I’m actually still on season 1. No spoilers!”

“Oh, that’s cool,” Jongdae nodded, trying his hardest to be cool. He probably sounded like Chanyeol (he always coos, “ _Cool, cool. Coolio, yeah totally cool-le-cool_ ”.). “I’ve got it, if you ever want to watch it.”

“Is that an invitation?” Baekhyun’s voice dropped. Jongdae swallowed the lump in his throat, because, _holy fuck_ , that was intimidating and kind of hot. Jongdae’s not sure the last time he’s felt this way about guy since the incident with concept art of Derik the Destroyer. 

But Baekhyun flicked back into a cute smile and laughed lightly, “I’m kidding. Unless, you actually want to hang out. We could probably do that.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jongdae hoped he didn’t seem too enthusiastic. Can’t get overhyped, don’t want to blow it. Baekhyun and Jongdae exchanged numbers. “We can do that. Yeah.”

Baekhyun let out a snort through his nose and held his laundry basket on his hip, “Okay, well I’ll see you later.”

As Baekhyun left, Jongdae watched to Baekhyun’s legs in tight jeans. His hips swayed so elegantly, even with a basket on his hips. 

But he totally wasn’t staring at Baekhyun’s ass.

-

Baekhyun texted him later that night about hanging out. Jongdae internally held his breath. He really didn’t want to scare Baekhyun off with the doilies and the mom decorations. 

JK: _Your place? My sofa sucks._

Jongdae scrambled to find his box set, only to feel the vibration in his back pocket.

BB: _Suuuure. You just want to try my pull out futon ;)_

He feels a burn against his face. Jongdae’s fucked, he’s sure of it. He’s pretty sure Baekhyun is a very straight man, just like every other guy that Jongdae has glanced at. To be fair, other people would probably assume that Jongdae is also a very straight man. They would be correct, kind of. Honestly, he’s not certain he could label him as _definitely straight_. It’s confusing.

And maybe Baekhyun was the same.

Or he could just be a friend, that’s fine by Jongdae. 

A half hour later, Jongdae was knocking on door 510 with the season 1 box set of _Bushido: Kiko_ in one arm and a dangling case of beer in the other. He could hear the padding footsteps on the other side and a door opening up wide open.  
Baekhyun stood in the door way, a look of scrutiny on his face. His squinted his eyes, “Do I know you?”

Jongdae looked a little dumbfounded. He was already nervous and sweaty, and now this situation was completely different than he expected. 

“I’m just kidding,” Baekhyun’s face broke, and he led Jongdae in. He made a face of terror, “This was your face!”

“Ha, ha,” Jongdae said dryly, dropping the case of beer on the counter top. 

“I’ve got tacos from Adobo, if you want some,” Baekhyun called from his kitchen. He returned with Styrofoam boxes, revealing the flaky, spicy goodness. “Can’t go wrong with tacos, right? Unless you’re not into spicy.”

Jongdae laughed lightly, swooping into a Styrofoam box and biting into a hard shell taco. He tasted the greasy beef, the mild salsa, and a world of Mexican spices. He suddenly choked, “This- uh- doesn’t have _onions_ , right?”

“Oh shit, seriously?” Baekhyun rushed toward him, immediately slapping Jongdae’s back. But Jongdae couldn’t help and laugh, almost spewing out his food. Baekhyun caught on and slapped Jongdae hard, “Don’t scare me like that, fuck. We don’t even know each other. Who’s your emergency contact?”

“Ooh, you’re funny,” Jongdae joked, enjoying the flirtatious play they had together. It was kind of amazing. Usually he would be awkward and only open up when there was a ritual of awkward eye contact and finally a recognition that they actually like hanging out.

Jongdae flopped onto the black futon, its cushions a lot softer than his sofa. He shoved the taco into his mouth as he watched Baekhyun put in the first disc of the season. Baekhyun put the beer onto the coffee table, right next to the tacos (bless his soul), and opened two bottles with the opener. Baekhyun handed one to Jongdae, and turned to the menu screen.

“You want to start with the first episode?” Baekhyun sipped his beer. “I mean, we can get to know each other while it plays.”

“Uh, yeah, yeah. Sure,” Jongdae said passively. He does this every time. He’s always too passive to say something for himself. In that way, he wish he was like Kyungsoo, who did not give two shits about what the other person thought about him. He put himself out there.

Jongdae got more comfortable in the couch, casually watching the episode. He didn’t mind, he’s seen this episode multiple times. 

“So, what do you do Jongdae?”

Baekhyun’s feet were propped up onto his coffee table, his white socked feet dangling in the air. He stuffed a soft taco into his mouth, chewing happily. 

“I’m an animator,” Jongdae chugged the rest on his beer and crossed his ankles. He nodded his empty bottle toward the screen, “The company I’m working for is making an anime right now.”

“Awesome, what’s it about?”

Jongdae smirked around his second bottle opening, “Classified.”

Baekhyun gave him a look, one that Jongdae was satisfied with. Baekhyun was impressed by his wit. 1 point for Jongdae.

“What do you do?” Jongdae finally asked.

“Classified,” Baekhyun whipped back.

Jongdae whined, his head hitting the back pillow. He slapped Baekhyun’s arm, “You can’t do that!”

“It’s only fair,” Baekhyun grinned. Jongdae inched his way closer to Baekhyun, whining quietly to himself, pouting miserably. Baekhyun laughed, “If you want to play 20 questions, you’ve got to play fair. No cop outs.”

“Fine,” Jongdae groaned, slowly easing his way off of Baekhyun. “What do you do?”

“Classi-,” Jongdae smacked him again when Baekhyun gave him a haughty smirk. “I’m actually a freelance artist.”

“Music?”

“How could you tell?” Baekhyun smirked, showing off a tattoo on his left forearm. Jongdae could recognize the black ink of keyboard faded into his skin. “You’re dying to touch it, I can tell.”

Jongdae leaned over Baekhyun’s body, his thick fingers grazing the smooth skin keys. Jongdae pressed into a key, “What’s that note?”

“C.”

“Sing it.”

Baekhyun let a small breath out of his noise, one of amusement. Jongdae swore he heard Baekhyun curse at him before he let out a gorgeous note. Jongdae pressed into the next ivory key, and Baekhyun let out another note in his range. Jongdae enjoyed this. It was strangely intimate, even when they had just met. Jongdae just felt comfortable.

They went back and forth: eating, drinking, asking, and answering. Baekhyun was originally from Maryland; Jongdae from Massachusetts. Both settled in New York for job opportunities. They both love dogs, both love dancing (even if it may be bad), and they both have a dislike for the color orange. Baekhyun hates pickles and obligatory ties. 

They easily got comfortable, switching into the next episodes, both flush from drinks that they stopped a half hour ago. They leaned into each other, asking more intimate questions as they go. 

Baekhyun’s eyes were shining, a sleazy grin on his face, “What’s the most daring thing you’ve done sexually?”

“Daring?” Jongdae laughed, unsure. He could think of things he has done, none of them really that impressive. “I went down on a guy once.”

“Nice,” Baekhyun smirked, nodding his head against the back of the futon. “Was it good?”

Jongdae shrugged, “For him? Yeah, I guess. He came.”

“Did you swallow?”

Jongdae rolled his eyes, “Come on.”

Baekhyun let out a tiny squeak when Jongdae smacked him against the chest. They kept on laughing, Jongdae occasionally smacking Baekhyun. Jongdae had to stop in thought, “And you?”

“Bondage,” Baekhyun winked, but then released a laugh. “Not my idea. It was a little weird. My girl wanted to hand cuff me. She almost lost the keys.”

Jongdae felt a little deflated, “You got a girl?”

“Oh, nah,” Baekhyun’s eyebrow twitched. “I’m _really_ single. We broke up about 3 years ago.”

“Got you,” Jongdae nodded, inflating yet again. A weird silence fell between them, Kiko was in the background complaining about the class activities. Jongdae felt Baekhyun’s hand grazing his bicep. 

“Hey, I uh-,” Baekhyun was hesitant, his eyes burning a hole into Jongdae’s shirt. “I don’t want this to be weird.”

“Oh my God, what is it?” Jongdae whined, laughing at Baekhyun’s weird shyness. 

“You can say no,” Baekhyun started, but breathed a sigh. “Sorry, I haven’t done this in a long time. I like you, and I think you like me. And –shit, this is so embarrassing. Are you down to fuck?”

Jongdae wasn’t sure what would be best to say in this situation. His brain hit pause and he stared at Baekhyun with an odd gaping expression. He finally let out an odd breath and smiled gently, “We just met.”

“I know. I just -,” Baekhyun looked just as nerve-racked as Jongdae did, a dejected sigh in his midst. He suddenly sprung up, eyes wide, “I didn’t scare you away, did I?”

Jongdae laughed, “No, no. Honestly, I just don’t want to fuck it up. I like you too, but I like to take things slow.”

Baekhyun nodded slowly in acceptance and relief washed over Jongdae like a cold wave. The night continued with them watching the next couple of episodes of _Bushido: Kiko_ until Jongdae was getting tired and his bedtime was an hour ago. He gave Baekhyun a wave and a goodnight, and the night ended cordially.

-

Jongdae was finally easing into a nice routine with Baekhyun. They texted each other well enough to make plans and get to know each other. Sometimes Baekhyun would meet up with Jongdae for a casual lunch during the weekdays. Baekhyun works from either a studio a couple blocks down or from inside his apartment. Baekhyun is definitely easily accessible, which makes Jongdae feel bad for being so busy. It was hard to have relationships when he was tied with work, and even overtime. 

Jongdae had promised to make it out to dinner that Baekhyun had planned earlier last week. He was running a half hour late from finishing up some work, fingers through his hair, and his complexion a sickly pale. He was so dead.

Jongdae arrived to the apartment complex and ran up the flights of stairs to his room for a quick change. His fingers jangled his keys nervously as he made the last turn to his door. He found a well-dressed figure leaned up against the dirty wallpaper of the hallway, right beside his doorway. Jongdae approached carefully only to recognize it as Baekhyun.

“Hey,” Jongdae said carefully as he pressed his keys into the hole. “I’m sorry that I was late for dinner. You know, work has been a bitch.”

Baekhyun was strangely quiet, his eyes pressed to Jongdae’s fingers twisting the key of the door handle. Jongdae pushed inside, a nervous quake in him as he watched Baekhyun follow him in. Jongdae hadn’t put away all of the old decorations or tidied up. Stupidly, he never expected Baekhyun to ever come inside of his dingy apartment.

Jongdae flipped the lights on as he bee lined to his bedroom. He quickly stripped himself of the plain t-shirt and baggy sweat pants for a more fitted look. He hoped Baekhyun wouldn’t mind a striped button up – he honestly didn’t have that many nice clothes. 

When Jongdae stepped out, Baekhyun was in view, staring at the television and some random drama on. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, revealing his tattoo, elbows dug into his black jean thighs as he leaned into the action of the scene. In this moment, Jongdae thanked God for the blessing that came in tight jeans. 

“Acceptable?” 

Baekhyun eyed Jongdae for second, checking head to toe with sharp eyes. That’s when Jongdae saw the smidge of a smoky eye. And when he noticed more, Baekhyun definitely had more of a glow to him. He looked really good.

Baekhyun’s mouth turned upward teasingly, “Decent.”

And suddenly Jongdae felt inferior as Baekhyun flipped the television off and stood. His eyes were displayed beautifully by the complementary makeup. Jongdae didn’t really have a need for makeup, and he honestly had no idea how to use it. He just thought that people looked good in it. Baekhyun looked great in it.

“I’m kidding. You just look like a kid playing dress up,” Baekhyun played with Jongdae’s sleeves, rolling the cuffs up for a more casual look. “I only look nice because I had an interview today.”

“You didn’t tell me that,” Jongdae whined as Baekhyun dragged him out of the apartment complex. They hailed a yellow cab, and set off to the new restaurant that Baekhyun has been gushing about. It was a little Italian place in the Bronx, only about a half hour away. 

Jongdae was nervous, since Baekhyun had placed in a reservation that they were now about 45 minutes late to. But Baekhyun graciously smiled at the hostess and all was fine. They sat at a beautifully lit table, a selection of wine at their disposal. Jongdae immediately felt underdressed yet again. 

“This is all very romantic,” Jongdae laughed as they shared an appetizer together.  
Baekhyun took a long sip of his red wine, and with a smile, “It’s only romantic if you make it.” 

“Are you hoping to get lucky?” Jongdae asked over his hearty meat sauce. Everything was to perfection, no wonder Baekhyun liked it so much. After a hard day of work, it would be nice to relax to this, especially with Baekhyun’s company. Jongdae was sure that Baekhyun was trying to win him over.

“That’s up to you,” Baekhyun replied playfully, his blacked lined eyes shining over his glass. Jongdae almost dropped his fork when could feel Baekhyun’s foot grazing up his clothed leg. Baekhyun looked so confident, and Jongdae couldn’t help himself. This casual friendship needed an upgrade.

Baekhyun flicked his jet black bangs out of his eyes, breaking the tension Jongdae felt tight in his body. Relaxed and composed, the two spent the evening laughing, like there wasn’t a lingering tension. 

“So, that interview?” Jongdae asked, slurping a linguini strand. Baekhyun popped a tomato into his mouth.

“Went well, I hope. It was for a major label. Hopefully I’ll be able to create tracks for big artists. You know, like Beyoncé,” Baekhyun continued to eat through his chicken Marsala.

Jongdae’s smiled wavered, “I thought you wanted to be an artist, not write for them.”

“You’ve got to start somewhere. It’s not like I’m a trained singer anyway,” Baekhyun shrugged, but then pierced a vegetable on his fork. He leaned across the table and urged Jongdae to eat it. Jongdae laughed and then took the cooked vegetable between his teeth. It was all too domestic. “How’s work? Busy, I bet.”

“Yeah. The project is almost wrapping up for its first four episodes before release,” Jongdae wiped his mouth and set aside his napkin. “I actually have a weird request. But you can say no, of course.”

“Funny,” Baekhyun let out a gracious laugh, “I’ll bite.”

“We need a shot for motion capture,” Jongdae was hesitant. “It’s just a walking shot. And the head writer is looking for a specific look that I think you have.”

Baekhyun looked amused, “There’s a catch, isn’t there?”

Jongdae sighed, “It’s for a female character.”

“Why me in particular?”

“Well, I’m not sure if you stare at your ass in the mirror, but let’s just say I love you watch you leave.”

Baekhyun couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud with a wide smile. Jongdae sunk into his chair, hoping for a spark of courage. Of course it was a silly request. 

“I’ll do it.”

Jongdae perked up, delight rushing through his ears. Baekhyun was still laughing like an idiot, but Jongdae was hearing a symphony in his head. He’s been working so hard to try to find the look Chanyeol was needing. He’s honestly in a blissful moment, and grabbed the check.

Baekhyun smile was wavering, “What are you doing?”

Jongdae looked up from signing the check, “Treating you to dinner.”

“No dessert?” Baekhyun blinked innocently. Jongdae had to grin.

“I can think of something better.”

-

One heated taxi ride later, Jongdae led Baekhyun back to his apartment. His hands were a little sweaty has he unlocked his door. Jongdae led Baekhyun to his sofa, trying to ease himself to relax. He could feel Baekhyun rubbing his back, but it just made him tingle. Baekhyun’s mouth was half in a smirk and half in a wavering smile. He looked like he was going to eat him.

“God, you’re hot,” Jongdae reached forward, pulling Baekhyun towards him for a kiss. Their lips glided over each other’s, a little rough a first from the excitement. Their breaths tangled, Baekhyun’s bright laugh mixed in, but Jongdae forced his fist into Baekhyun’s hair. 

It finally slowed, and Jongdae could finally feel his heart beat. He felt Baekhyun lick at his bottom lip in hopes of unzipping his lips. Jongdae couldn’t resist, mouthing a gentle laugh as he opened up for Baekhyun. His tongue lapped around his, and with every lick from Jongdae elicited a hard breath from Baekhyun. 

Jongdae rested his other hand on Baekhyun’s chest pushing him back onto the sofa so that he could tower over him. Jongdae straddled Baekhyun’s lap, hand still tucked into Baekhyun’s hair, mouths still locked in a make out. Baekhyun’s hands settled onto Jongdae’s hips, rutting slowly against him.

Minutes in, Jongdae finally pulls away, face heated from the work. He looks down on Baekhyun, his eyes fluttering open. Baekhyun’s mouth forms into a lazy smile, and with a clueless drawl, “You think I’m hot?”

Jongdae nipped at Baekhyun’s lips, pressing kisses onto his lips like he’s got a counter on the side. It’s like he was trying to send a message every time he kissed into Baekhyun’s thin lips. Baekhyun’s hands rubbed at Jongdae’s hips and he finally hummed, “What’s for dessert?”

Jongdae released his hold on Baekhyun’s hair, climbing down to the floor and resting his hands on Baekhyun’s knees. Jongdae gave a quick smirk before he teased a hand around Baekhyun’s crotch. Baekhyun’s breath hitched, especially whenever Jongdae would graze up and down the zipper, so close to the base of his dick. 

Baekhyun suddenly sat back up and pushed Jongdae off, “Hold on.”

Baekhyun unbuttoned Jongdae’s shirt down a couple buttons, and he shoved it off so it revealed his sharp collarbones. Baekhyun fluffed up Jongdae’s hair, nails occasionally scratching his scalp. Baekhyun sat back and looked at his work with a satisfied smile, “I like them roughed up a little.”

Jongdae grinned, finally palming Baekhyun’s semi hard member through his tight jeans. He could hear Baekhyun’s breathy moans, most definitely swallowing a lot more than he was producing. Baekhyun’s hands were in the sofa, hovering the material with fists. Jongdae fiddled with the zipper and button, shifting up Baekhyun’s dress shirt and stroking through blue briefs.

Jongdae leans forward on his knees, his mouth hovering over the clothed dick, puffing hot breaths over it. Baekhyun was attentive, moaning and responding to every feeling. As much as Jongdae liked teasing Baekhyun, and watching him squirm, Jongdae wanted to push it. He finally pushed the underwear and jeans down to Baekhyun’s knees, releasing the hard member. Jongdae takes it by the base, licking a thick stripe up, to feel Baekhyun shiver.

“Fuck.”

Jongdae could hear Baekhyun grunt when Jongdae would put his hot mouth on him. As he sucked him down, his tongue flicking against the underside, Jongdae flicked his eyes up to watch Baekhyun. Sucking in, Baekhyun eyes closed, the smoky eye apparent, and his mouth hung open in silent breath. Jongdae had to smile, downing Baekhyun again only to get another grunt.

Baekhyun fingered Jongdae’s hair and gripped when Jongdae would suck at a particularly sensitive spot. Jongdae finally popped off, kissing the tip and down the shaft. Jongdae stroked Baekhyun slowly, finally licking down to his balls. Jongdae watched Baekhyun resituate himself, recuperating after Jongdae’s show. 

Baekhyun’s eyes were half lidded, he licked his lips, and let out little breaths. Jongdae grinned, knowing his mouth curls were stretching prettily, “Speechless? Need to tap out?”

Baekhyun lightly smacked Jongdae’s cheek, still a little breathless. Jongdae played with Baekhyun’s balls and watched the blush return to Baekhyun’s face. Jongdae grinned, returning to his play. This time, he sucked with a fervor, making sure that Baekhyun would hit some notes with his moans. With every increasing moan, Jongdae would suck harder and stroke faster. 

Jongdae could feel Baekhyun getting close when he fisted Jongdae’s hair. Jongdae popped off, stroking fast on Baekhyun’s dick. He locked eyes with Baekhyun, giving him a teasing smile. 

Baekhyun was so breathy, and his eyes were pleading, “I’m gonna come.”

Jongdae kept stroking at his fast pace, his eyes directed to Baekhyun’s stomach, which squirmed with every breath. Jongdae took Baekhyun into his mouth, sucking the tip and stroking the base, eyes closing. He could feel Baekhyun’s body wriggling underneath him, breaths labored, and finally a choked cry. Jongdae felt the hot stickiness in his mouth, waiting about 10 seconds for it to finish before he popped off and swallowed. He licked his lips and wiped his chin, making sure it was clean.

Baekhyun sat forward, grabbing Jongdae and cupping his jaw line. Baekhyun cooed, “Can I keep you?”

Jongdae laughed, “Only if you can get me off.”

Baekhyun guided Jongdae to the sofa, laying him down and popping off his jeans. Needless to say, Jongdae isn’t really embarrassed to say that he got off in 2 minutes, especially when it was by the magical hands of Byun Baekhyun.

-

Baekhyun nudged Jongdae on the subway. He was adorned in tight jeans and a black hoodie. He’s on Jongdae’s level of casual. 

“You don’t think it’s weird that I’m coming to your office, right?”

“It’s not your normal office,” Jongdae smiled, secretly slipping his hand into Baekhyun’s. Their relationship got physical pretty fast, and in a months’ time they went from strangers to friends (that ended pretty fast) to friends with benefits, and now possibly dating (there are a lot of air quotes and question marks around that). 

Baekhyun is touchy, which is great, because Jongdae is also very touchy. Baekhyun also likes Jongdae’s jokes, and even points out when Jongdae is being a nerd. So, things have been going fantastically for Jongdae. 

They get to the office on time for Jongdae’s shift, welcomed by Kyungsoo’s flat face. Kyungsoo hadn’t had his morning coffee yet, Jongdae assumes. After that, he settles in and acts normal. Well, normal enough for Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo perked up his eyebrow at the stranger in the room, but he didn’t give much of a greeting. There was an awkward pause until Jongdae finally stepped in.

“Morning, Soo!” Jongdae chirped, tugging a quiet Baekhyun forward. Kyungsoo, again, didn’t make much of a conversation. He focused on the stranger, and then nodded toward Jongdae.

“Morning,” He quietly said. “I actually have to do some warm ups, so I’ll catch you later?”

“Sure. Cool, cool,” Jongdae trailed as Kyungsoo darted down the hallway. Jongdae turned toward Baekhyun and sighed, “I swear not all my coworkers are like that.”

“No, it’s not that,” Baekhyun chuckled quietly. “Kyungsoo and I went to NYU together. We had some classes together, actually.”

“Oh, weird,” Jongdae scrunched his face, and then shrugged, “Small world I guess. Was he a stick in the mud back then too?”

“Couldn’t tell you. We didn’t hang out a lot,” Baekhyun rested his black hoodie at Jongdae’s desk chair. He fiddled with the mouse and was presented with a blue log in screen. He turned back and gave Jongdae a menacing look, “Can I guess your password?”

Jongdae scoffed playfully, “Try if you dare. No one on this planet would get it -”

The delightful ring of the computer booting into his desktop rung, and immediately Jongdae’s heart dropped. His eyes flickered to Baekhyun’s not so innocent smile. With Jongdae’s mouth gapped like a fish, Baekhyun quickly whispered into his ear with a gentle kiss on the temple, “You left a sticky note with your passwords on it at your apartment.” 

Chanyeol’s loud laugh and squeaky chucks broke their intimate moment. Baekhyun pulled away to give a pleasant smile to the head writer. Chanyeol, with his wide smile and dopey eyes, cleaned up pretty well with introductions. He was the master of talking.

“Hey, you must be Baekhyun? Jongdae has been talking nonstop about you,” Chanyeol grinned. Jongdae immediately shook his head, signaling Chanyeol to _shut the fuck up immediately_. But God gave Chanyeol a big mouth for a reason. “He’s been coming to office gushing smiles and rainbows. Yesterday, he was telling me how much he _loves_ his boyfriend.”

Baekhyun became a little rigid, his voice tight, “Oh, boyfriend?”

“ _Okay!_ ” Jongdae clasped his hands onto Baekhyun’s shoulders and pushed him into the direction of the motion capture floor. “We are going to go do the thing with the walking and stuff, and _not_ talk about this. Ever. Again. Cool. Everybody cool? Awesome.”

Chanyeol had given Baekhyun the lowdown on the scene and about the shot. Jongin taught Baekhyun the technicality parts of the motion capture, even handing him the strange suit. Baekhyun gave Jongdae a sinister look and immediately changed into the suit. 

In a half hours’ time, they wrapped the shot. It was beautiful. Jongdae wasn’t attracted to the white balls stuck to Baekhyun’s butt on his motion capture suit, but he definitely enjoyed the bounce on them. It was mostly walking and running back and forth, plus a couple of stances, but Jongdae was just amazed. Chanyeol looked like a kid on Christmas (he almost cried on set). He finally got his shot.

Baekhyun looked like he enjoyed the day, a huge smile on his face when they broke out of the character and finished the poses. He hugged Jongdae on the side, “So, new bedroom wardrobe?”

Jongdae snorted, kissing Baekhyun’s smile off. 

“Just take off the suit, stupid.”

-

Baekhyun had to immediately leave since he had another interview with a major label, so they left each other begrudgingly without lunch. Baekhyun made it up to Jongdae with a kiss and a promise of buying dinner. 

Jongdae returned to his desk, spinning in his chair to return back to his work. He felt a stupid smile on his face, and he just felt so light. Everything was turning up well for Jongdae. He finally got that shot down for work, and Baekhyun was being perfect, and he finally felt happy to come home. 

Kyungsoo came by an hour into crunch time. He sat in his chair and let out a little sigh. Kyungsoo gave Jongdae a glance over, “Still working?”

“Yeah,” Jongdae took off his headphones. “But I need to get lunch soon. Taco Tuesday?”  
Kyungsoo chuckled and threw on his jacket, “We haven’t done that since intern days.”

Jongdae followed suit, slipping on the black sweatshirt from his chair and following Kyungsoo down the stairs. Taco Tuesday consisted on the two traveling down 2 blocks to the string of Mexican restaurants. Down the street was a dive taco stand, a cart with a grill stand and portable fridge. When Kyungsoo and Jongdae were interns with barely any money on hand and too lazy to make food from home, they would squander change and get $1 tacos on Tuesdays. 

It was a little windy in the city, but Kyungsoo and Jongdae continued down the block together. They commented about little things, mostly work, and snippets of the past. They joked about how they would run downtown to see how fast they could shove tacos into their mouth and return back to work without their supervisor knowing. 

They turned the corner to be greeted by the familiar taco stand, the cart still lined with broken tag sign and the cart parked in the scooter park. There was the original gentleman that greeted the two animators with, “Welcome back, chachos!”

“Two fish tacos, and two beef tacos, both City style,” Kyungsoo ordered, looking over his shoulder to smile at Jongdae. “And some chicharones.”

Jongdae nudged him in a thanks. The wait was not too long as the man passed the tacos to younger man who put the toppings on. The two animators got their tacos with gracious smiles.

“Ah. Gracias, señor,” Kyungsoo paid with his cash with extra tip. They continued down the street back to work, exchanging one taco each, and chewing the savory memories. It felt like a flashback where they actually hung out a lot more. 

They found a bench to sit on to relax and eat their tacos. Jongdae had started snacking on the pork rinds after swallowing down his tacos. 

“So, Baekhyun told me that you guys went to school together,” Jongdae crunched on another pork rind. 

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo shrugged. “We had a project together once. I was just surprised to see him here. I never thought he would turn up again.”

“Yeah, I get that. Small worlds,” Jongdae swung his feet underneath the bench.

“Are you guys a thing?” Kyungsoo asked casually. “You just seem pretty attached to the hip.”

“Uh, yeah. I think,” Jongdae laughed. “It’s kind of up in the air right now. Like, I want to, but it’s not _official_ yet.”

“Got ya,” Kyungsoo nodded quietly. His hands folded against themselves, and he was eerily tense. Jongdae gave him a glance over and furrowed his eyebrows.

“You’ve got anyone I don’t know about?” Jongdae nudged playfully, but noticed the stiffness on Kyungsoo. 

“You are going to make fun of me,” Kyungsoo groaned, planting his head in his hands. Jongdae snorted and rocked Kyungsoo. 

“It can’t be _that_ bad,” Jongdae laughed.

Kyungsoo sighed, whispering quietly. It was practically inaudible, so Jongdae scrunched his face and told him to repeat it louder. Kyungsoo turned red and blurted, “I’m dating Chanyeol.”

Jongdae _squealed_ he was so happy. He wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo and squeezed, even if Kyungsoo was slapping the shit out of him. Jongdae laughed, “Thank God it’s just Chanyeol.”

“What?”

Jongdae gawked, “He’s been gushing about you ever since you insulted him about his baby ferret obsession.”

“ _That_ made him like me? Me _insulting_ him?”

Jongdae shrugged and shook his head, “Love is weird, man.”

“Huh,” Kyungsoo pondered as he sat back on the bench. Jongdae thought this was weird. They each were moving up in life. From interns, to full timers, to being in love with jobs and food in the fridge. It was a weird lull of happiness that they shared. 

“Thanks.”

Jongdae perked up as the word left Kyungsoo’s lips. Jongdae wasn’t sure what for, but he smiled and nodded. 

“We should go. Crunch time and everything,” Kyungsoo lifted himself up from the bench. Jongdae followed suit and continued down the street. Kyungsoo tugged onto his sweatshirt, “Oh, hey. Looks like you found that goddamn sweatshirt you were crying over.”

“Huh?” Jongdae stopped in his tracks.

Kyungsoo tugged on his sweatshirt again, “This one. The one you called me at 2am about? The one you literally wore every single day at work.”

Jongdae looked down at the black sweatshirt, and sure enough, it had the tiny worn off logo on the right wrist sleeve. This was the comfort that he had been missing. And sure enough, he never noticed it because it was so familiar. The day began to blur, and Jongdae tried so hard to rack his brain to wear he found it. 

“It was at your desk this morning, on your chair. Didn’t you wear it in?” 

Jongdae furrowed his eyebrows and strained his eyes on the pavement in thought. He was almost certain that he didn’t put a sweatshirt on since he was already wearing long sleeves. He definitely didn’t wear it in. But it was at his desk. Someone else must have brought it in. Maybe wore it in. And-

Oh. 

_Oh._

-

Jongdae heard the knock on his apartment door, and he automatically opened it to see that beaming smile. Baekhyun walked in with a kiss on his lips and take out in his hands. Perfect little domestic things like this made Jongdae into a pile of goo.

Jongdae led them to his dining room table. His mom kept on berating him until he finally got one, because eating on the sofa in front of the television was not being an adult. Jongdae had set some plates and forks for serving as Baekhyun took out the Indian food. They plated and served, and happily ate.

Baekhyun hummed in content, “Tikki masala was a good choice, hm?”

Jongdae opened his mouth to scoop up some rice in. Baekhyun took a piece of chicken from his plate and grinned when Jongdae whined. In a Baekhyun apology, he took another piece of chicken and fed Jongdae. Jongdae gently scraped against Baekhyun’s fingers and his tongue found a way to Baekhyun’s spicy fingers.

“So, I heard that you have a boyfriend,” Baekhyun’s face was very close to Jongdae’s. Jongdae could practically eat the spices from Baekhyun’s food. 

“Yeah,” Jongdae reached for Baekhyun’s hips and leaned further in to Baekhyun’s already close face. “He’s pretty cute. And squishy, and loves to tease me.”

Baekhyun smiled really prettily, “I like you a ton.”

He went in for a long press, a kiss that they enjoy slowly. The warmth was home, something Jongdae loved and wanted. Baekhyun tried to open Jongdae’s mouth, but he wouldn’t let up. Baekhyun pulled away with a happy sigh.

“Do you want to make it official?” Jongdae asked carefully. Baekhyun’s eyes lit up and he immediately became giddier.

“Yeah,” He breathed beautifully, wrapping his arms around Jongdae in a hug. It was warm and comfortable, something Jongdae could dream with.

“But,” Jongdae breathed in Baekhyun’s ear. “I want to play a game with you.”

“Sure,” Baekhyun smiled, sitting back into his chair to wait for Jongdae’s request.

Jongdae sighed and slowly started, “Take off every piece of clothing that doesn’t belong to you.”

Jongdae watched Baekhyun’s face. It was hard at first, like what Jongdae said was still processing. But slowly, his face morphed. His smile slowly faded and his eyes drooped into a weak, guilty stare. Baekhyun’s eyes immediately flickered down to the floor, he finally breathed his held breathe. His eyes flickered back again, and his jaw hardened.

“Jongdae,” Baekhyun whispered, but Jongdae held a waiting stare. He gestured for Baekhyun to continue with his hands. 

Eventually, Baekhyun had to give up. His face melted into a guilty mess. Jongdae watched as Baekhyun stripped off the first item: the black sweatshirt. The zipper rate was antagonizing, he slowly bought his time. Baekhyun placed the sweatshirt onto his chair, only to reveal the t-shirt that Jongdae has been looking for. A stupid _Bushido: Kiko_ shirt that Jongdae wanted to match with Baekhyun. 

Baekhyun lifted the shirt over his head, revealing his pale, white torso. Baekhyun still had a bit of a sour puss face on, instantly feeling the guilt worm its way through. The onslaught continued down. Baekhyun reached down to his feet, revealing pink clad socks with Piglet on the top smiling like an idiot. Something panged in Jongdae’s heart as Baekhyun plucked each sock off.

Baekhyun rested his hands on the jean button, and the sound of the button popping off made Jongdae’s heart sink. Those were definitely his favorite dark jeans. And as Baekhyun slid his jeans down his thighs, Jongdae could only imagine how many times he’s stared at Baekhyun’s ass in _his_ jeans. 

Baekhyun finally stopped at his stripped boxers, standing almost naked in front of Jongdae. Baekhyun’s gaze was at the floor at this point, a sad pout on his lips.

“So, the boxers are yours?”

Baekhyun flickered his eyes up and whispered, “Yes, they are mine.”

“That’s a shame,” Jongdae formed a smirk on his lips that Baekhyun noticed. “Thought I might get you naked tonight.”

Baekhyun finally rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. Clad only in his underwear, and Baekhyun still looked so perfect to Jongdae. A little bit of independence, a lot of sass, and yet this tiny piece of a mysterious treasure that Jongdae wanted to unlock.

“Are you going to humiliate me more?” Baekhyun strained. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not mad. Just confused,” Jongdae pulled Baekhyun over to sit down again. 

Baekhyun sighed and complied. “Why did you take my clothes?”

“It was an accident at first,” Baekhyun sighed, an embarrassed flush against his face. “It was the sock, because you left it in the dryer. And then I saw the second one and just plucked it out. And I saw you a couple times down in the laundry room or passing by, and I don’t know…”

“It got kind of out of hand…?” Jongdae tried to sympathize, connecting his eyes with Baekhyun. 

“Yeah,” Baekhyun sighed, and gave a weak smile. “I’m really sorry.”

Jongdae gave Baekhyun a small peck at his mouth, “It’s okay. You’re ass looks fantastic in my jeans.”

Baekhyun laughed in between the kisses, and Jongdae felt the bubble of laughter that was Baekhyun. This was perfect. A little weird, a little dysfunctional, but a fit. And Jongdae really, really liked it.

“Are you sure these boxers are yours?” Jongdae grinned, his fingers tapping dangerously at Baekhyun’s hip line.

Baekhyun winked, “You’ll have to find out.”


End file.
